As we enter the Consecration or Lenten Season and ponder God’s Word in our lives, consider this: the Trinity was created before the Creation. This is an odd introduction to Consecration and Lent, but it explains why both exist today. Without the Crucifixion of Christ, there would be no New Testament and no Trinity. There would be no Consecration or Lenten Season.
God spoke in the plural explaining the genesis of man. He said, let us make man in our image. Key Words – us and our. Us and our are plurals, indicating more than one being. This is perhaps the revelation about the coming of the Trinity. God is masterful, this was all part of his plan. 
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
Genesis 1:26 KJV
We are in the season of the Crucifixion of Christ, Easter. Upon his death, we entered the New Testament dispensation, the actualization of the birth of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our Father made all there is, Christ came to free us from sin, and the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Christ) came to indwell in us and guide us upon Christ’s departure. Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit.
15“If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you… 25All this I have spoken while still with you–. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
John 14:15, 16, 17,25-26 NIV
As Christians, we believe in the Trinity. Annually many of us take this special time to ‘thank God’ by entering Consecration prior to Easter. It is our time to earnestly Seek the Lord, and strengthen our relationship with him through fasting, prayer, praise, and worship for a specific period.
Consecration is derived from the word, consecrate meaning ‘to dedicate’, in Romans 12:1, the scripture says, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.
Consecration is not so much a ceremonial time as it is a commitment, a time of inspiration and gratitude. Lent is more sacrificial, in that Catholics and some Protestant denominations use this time to attain God’s blessing, which is antithetical because the New Testament teaches that grace cannot be earned, grace is the gift of righteousness.
“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!…For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!”
Romans 5:15, 17 NIV
Consecration is our opportunity to search ourselves and strengthen our relationship with the Lord as we simultaneously reach toward spiritual maturity. Consecration is the basis for every spiritual experience. We are giving ourselves as a living sacrifice, we are to live out our lives as a “holy” and “royal” priesthood to the glory God, for we are God’s people.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
1 Peter 2:9 NIV
In essence, we give up our own claims on ourselves and put ourselves in Gods hands.
Lent is not listed in the Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. According to GotQuestions.org, Lent began as a way for Catholics to remind themselves of the value of repentance. Over the centuries Lenten observations have developed as a much more “sacramental” time. Many Catholics believe that giving something up for Lent is a way to attain God’s blessing. Which, as explained above cannot be reached because we do not live by works, we live by grace. There is nothing we can do, no work we can offer that will reward us in the eyes of God. It is through His righteousness that we live by grace.
The Catholic Encyclopedia describes Lent as: “The aim of Lent is, above all else, to prepare man for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ. The better the preparation, the more effective the celebration will be.” The idea is to imitate the struggles Jesus faced when he was in the wilderness for 40 days and had to fast. People try to get penance and forgiveness from their sins, with some choosing to fast and others trying to give up something they enjoy for the duration of Lent.
Scriptures – Bible.com
Images – Google Images
Research – Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary; Google.com; Blog.Bibleforamerica.org; metro.co.uk; gotQuestions.org; West Angeles, COGIC; Bible.com
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Today is Valentines Day. It is the day to display and recognize a loved one, but not in the agape kind of love, the Christ-like love, the outpouring of love for all of humanity, kind of love, it is – temporal love.
mandated by God. It is one of the main reason Jesus was sent to earth.
. He reconciled our relationship with Him by sacrificing His son, Jesus Christ, who bore our sins at Calvary.
When we fail to follow them, we suffer the consequences. Here are some examples: We decide that cutting corners at work will increase the profit margin; we fail to be honest and trustworthy. We cheat on a test in school; we are not honest or trustworthy. We mistreat loved ones, constantly bringing up their faults and disrespecting them, we are not showing love or kindness. You see someone in need, and you rush past them trying not to look them in the eyes, you are not showing affection, love or kindness to others. You are fraught with anxiety and worry when everything is falling apart; you are not demonstrating peace. You want everything today and rush through life; you are not patient; another word for patience is forbearance. Your speech is colored with cussing, and gossip is part of your conversations, you do not walk in integrity. When you are hard and legalistic, you are not demonstrating meekness or being gentle. You are not disciplined, you succumb to bad habits, large and small, deadly and barely perceptible, you lack self-control.
or feel that something is not right when you are getting ready to say or do something out of character? When we sin, we suffer. When we suffer, we should examine our motives and actions and compare them to the Fruit of the Spirit and determine how we sinned, which is part of the process of correction. It is not God’s intent to punish us. God’s intent is to allow us to learn and correct our actions and through this process, it is His intent to allow us to heal.
The most deadly trait we lose is that of being prayerful. We neglect our relationship with our Lord and soon become estranged. Not because he does not want to communicate with us, but because we shut him out. We reject our relationship with him, it is not the reverse. We begin to live in a world of isolation.
Lisa’s Daily Inspirations 